Trip of Giants - Silver Falls

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The valley is being over-run. Christmas trees march in serried ranks down the slope. In places they display their warning signs with flourishes of bright green new growth frilling out. A part of destruction goes behind them. And in front, decorous rows of hay stripe the landscape. Thousands of grasses giving their lives in mass suicide to the subliminal strains of "Jingle Bells".

The horned cattle didn't appear concerned. Should I take a closer look to get a good photo? Discussion ensues about whether they are bulls or cows and just how risky it would be to get a closer picture. Maybe I'll do that another day when I'm wearing a red shirt: red to run faster of course 😊

I return to reality after that little day-dream, arriving at Silver Falls. We walk the short route around the South Fall, and then have a picnic lunch at a small playground that consists entirely of climbing bars. The day started off cloudy and cool, but during lunch the sun pokes through and chases away the clouds.

The perspective here is difficult to grasp: accustomed to the low native trees around Perth, we think of gum trees as tall, and they rarely form a large cluster. But here we are surrounded by trees that would dwarf the eucalypts. Add to that the sharp drops in the waterfall valleys and the scale is amplified.

So green. The green moss hanging like woolly blankets around trunks and branches, bright green leaves of the undergrowth that catch the sun. I took over a 100 photos on the waterfall walks, as it happens I wasn't the only one snapping away: Jas and I periodically overtook reach other as she also stopped to photograph stuff. So many new angles, fantastic shapes in the trees.


After lunch we walked around the North Fall. It has a similar structure to the South Fall, with the path passing deep beneath the overhang, so you can admire the fall from all around.

After some four hours we drove to the AC Gilbert Children's Museum in Salem. That was pretty neat: a large outdoor playground with three storey maze, and inside an assortment of science-promoting activities. Joseph disappeared into the maze, and Avery and Liam played in the puppet theatre. I bought us a root beer for me, kiwifruit and strawberry 'snapple' for Ky, and packet of chips for Liam for $4.50. In Aus I'd expect to pay over $7 for all that.

Jas, Ky and I headed off to find the Art and Craft fair that was supposed to be on two blocks down. We drove down a bit, saw the entrance to a Biker's convention, decided that wasn't it and then drove the complicated one-way system around Salem trying to find the other "River Front Park". We eventually decided that a collection of stalls way behind the Bikers' bikes must be it, so parked and walked over. If it was the art and craft show, then the art was in the helmets and the craft in the leather. Some of the bikes were amazing: bright red and bright green with decorations. Feeling a little out of place we strolled through and out again and decided that the Art and Craft show wasn't meant to be. Jas had an urge to buy some art so we discussed the idea of getting a tattoo...

A short stop at a grocery store afterwards confirmed that the cost of living, for food, is way cheaper than in Australia. The evening was pleasant with Matt putting together mini-pizzas for us. But then events went pear-shaped when Ky found the two boys messing around with the whiteboard markers, having gotten it on themselves and the carpet. The next morning they washed Jas' car in penance.

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